A heartbreaking email sent by a New Zealand entrepreneur in the final days before his suicide in Africa, sheds light on the harrowing 'media tsunami' he faced after his company collapsed.
Jake Millar, 26, took his own life 13,000km away from his childhood home in Christchurch where he captured the hearts and minds of business leaders and the local community as a teenager after the 2011 earthquake that killed 185 people.
He sought 'enlightenment' and refuge from the intense media scrutiny in Kenya at the beginning of this year, but on Monday it was confirmed the smooth-talking youngster succumbed to his demons.
His friend Sir Ray Avery said in a social media post after his death that Millar's crime was being 'a charismatic tall poppy' because 'NZ does not tolerate tall poppies'.
'NZ media literally ran Jake out of town,' he said.
'Left alone with just the 'trial by media 'comments recirculating in his head Jake took the final step to make the pain go away.'
Jake Millar (pictured right with Dorothy Wang at New York Fashion Week) took his own life 13,000km away from his childhood home in Christchurch where he captured the hearts and minds of business leaders and the local community as a teenager in the wake of the 2011 earthquake which killed 185 people
The award-winning scientist, inventor and author shared an eye-opening extract from a recent email Jake addressed to him and his wife Anna.
'You are two of the most beautiful people in the world,' Millar wrote.
'Thank you for looking after me when I was actively trying to die because of the media tsunami in NZ.
'The NZ media can be so nasty and being away from NZ I'm starting to feel more optimistic about the future. Love to you both.'
Millar suffered a spectacular fall from grace after selling his motivational video platform Unfiltered, once valued at $12 million, to Crimson Education for an undisclosed fee thought to be about $100,000.
He went from an entrepreneur who rubbed shoulders with some of the biggest names in business to the ridiculed founder of a failed company that was compared to the demise of corporate disasters like Theranos, WeWork, and the Fyre Festival.
Following the calamity, Millar was hounded by furious investors and media and decided to flee the country.
Jake Millar (pictured) went from an entrepreneur who rubbed shoulders with some of the biggest names in business to the ridiculed founder of a failed company which was compared to the demise of corporate disasters like Theranos, WeWork, and the Fyre Festival
His friend Sir Ray Avery (pictured) said in a social media post following his death that Jake's major crime was being 'a charismatic tall poppy' because 'NZ does not tolerate tall poppies'
The entrepreneur, widely known for his designer clothes, Rolex watches, collection of fine art and love of Gucci and Louis Vuitton loafers, relocated to Nairobi in Kenya for a 'clear horizon' and to 'try something new'.
'My business has commercially failed and I have no obligations anymore to a set of investors,' he told Spin Off in March.
'I haven't raised a fresh set of capital and I don't owe my time to any venture. I really am able to go in any direction I want and try something new.'
He said the idea of moving to sub-Saharan Africa felt like a shake-up he needed, fearing the rest of his life would be too 'boring and predictable' if he didn't make a radical change.
But Millar also admitted he arrived in the East African nation with 'no business idea, no capital and quite frankly, no clue'.
